Young Goats

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 163595

From: lealess <lealess at yahoo.com>
>The Order member on whom we will get more information will probably be
>Aberforth Dumbledore. Perhaps his nickname is RAB, for Rabid something
>-- goat-lover that he is. 

Bart:
I don't recall if I've mentioned this before, but Marion Zimmer Bradley, had her character Lythande the Star Browed (one of the few Thieves' World characters whose author asked to be taken out of the continuity) go into a city where the standard insult was to call someone a "despoiler of young goats". This turns out to be a key to the final upshot of the story. Ever since I read it (well over a decade ago), I have commonly used the phrase when I wanted to give an example of an insulting statement, but one so ridiculous that nobody would think that I meant it seriously, and therefore nobody would take offense (how many of you would take offense if someone accused you of being a "despoiler of young goats"?). 

I would be very surprised if JKR was unfamiliar with the late Ms. Bradley; I wonder if Aberforth's interests were some form of tribute?

Bart